Lost and Found
by Mollielou
Summary: Violet Bolton has lost it all. Running alone and scared she finds herself in a group of unlikely strangers who have banded together to survive. As Violet finds her place she realises danger isn't just confined to the dead... Life time bonds form and Violet finds herself drawn to a certain crossbow wielding redneck with a short fuse. But in this world, is love enough anymore? A Dar
1. The Lost

**Just a short prologue to bring you slightly up speed with my character Violet. This will be a slowish character development with Violet starting as a bit of a wet blanket, but hopefully turning into a badass. She may be annoying at times, hey I was even annoyed writing some bits haha, but she grows into her skin! Ive wanted to write a Daryl story for a while now and I've planned a lot out! I will be sticking to character as much as possible with a few of my own added in! This may be a slow burner as Daryl and Violet are both character that don't trust easily. Enough rambling from me! Enjoy!!**

 **~mollielouu**

Violet's POV

Running, that's all I remember...I couldn't remember a time when I wasn't running. Constantly moving, shifting and changing, running water sometimes frantic, sometimes calm, but never standing still. This is what my life had become. From a childhood full of rage and violence, to an adolescence filled with friends and living, and back again. The rage is back, the rapid pace and the ever changing road. My life had, for a second time, been turned on its head and I was face to face with death.

I shut my eyes not wanting to look where I was or what was around, the dead, the living, I no longer cared. My long matted blonde hair covered my face as I sat slumped on the floor, my right foot trapped in a sharp bear trap. They metal teeth digging into my ankle making it impossible for me to move. Although I knew I was tied to the floor with this thing digging through my skin, I couldn't feel a thing. I had been running for what must have been hours, from a place I once thought was safe, that was once my home. I'd been with a group since this all started but when supplies started to run low, friends turned on friends, people died. I died there. Trapped for 5 months in a room no bigger than my garden shed back home...

Home...

I sunk back against the floor and pictured home...the rolling green hills, drinking cheap vodka with my friends at the park, smoking to impress stupid David Cunningham from year 11. I leaned to my left and gripped the strap of my back packing pulling it towards me. Before I left I hadn't grabbed much, just photos, water and my MP3 player I'd taken from a house. I grabbed the small plastic bag from the bottom and carefully looked at the photos, taking care not to smudge my bloody hands over the faces.

The first one, a photo of me and my adopted parents at Christmas, smiling with crooked paper party hats balanced precariously on our heads. The next, a photo of my high school friends, Ciaran, Douglas and Gerorgie, all smiling, drunk with red cups full of spirits in our hands. I closed my eyes and could almost hear 'I dont feel like dancing' playing in the background. I could taste the cherry sours on my tongue and the feel of Ciaran's shoulder up against mine as I lay my heavy head on his shoulder. Ciaran was my best friend and had been since I moved schools age 12. He had helped me become the person I was, he was my rock. We had come to America together. Douglas and Georgie had tagged along for the trip, to 'help' with my studies. After I was finished we were going to stay for a while, try something new and have an adventure. I had lost them all, didn't know if they were dead or alive. I had run without them, I had too. Ciaran had been taken away, Doug and Georgie...I hadn't seen them in a long time now...

I was far away from home now.. . Far away from the small English town, away from that picture of the party...I was going to finishing off my masters degree with a dissertation on the American civil war. I laughed then, how trivial that all was now. All those long nights staying up writing pointless essays for a future I now didn't have. I had become a shadow of the girl I was. Happy, outgoing, fun. Words that no longer applied to me. I don't even think I had uttered a word since I'd been trapped with those people. I cowered in the company of anyone. Never fought back, I'd never even killed one of those... things, I never had to that wasn't my job and now I was out on my own, no weapons, no fighting skills, no hope.

I was the walking dead.

That's when I heard it...a twig snap. They had found me, Zack had found me and he was going to take me back to that place, put his dirty hands all over me. I shoved the photos back in my bag and yank at the trapped. Prising it open was no good, I dug at the earth to try and pull it up from the ground. My finger nails filled with dirty as I frantically scrambling in the mud.

"Ah! Shit" I said as my hand hit something sharp cutting across my palm. I pulled at the chain and it pulled free from the ground. I leaned against a tree pushing myself up but as soon as I tired to stand I fell back down. I started to cry, I felt tears start to well up. No. I cant give in. I tried to stand once more time and position my foot so I could walk without tripping on the trap. I dragged my leg and began to move. The numbness I had felt before was gone, my leg felt as if it was on fire. I bit down on my lip hard to stop myself from screaming. And i fell. Slipped to my knees and stopped as the footsteps behind me got closer.

"Just kill me." I said my voiced scratched. "Just kill me Zack" I sunk further into the floor and put my head in my hands. My leg burned my head pounded and everything went black.

 **I hope you liked the first chapter/prologue! More of Violet's story and her background will be revealed as the story continues! Leave some comments n favs it will make me hapyyyy**


	2. The Found

Rick POV

Me and Daryl were out looking for food...again...with so many mouths to feed, the live stock at the Greenes farm wasn't cutting it. We weren't starving or thirsty but the food we had didn't fill you up. It was just enough to keep you going till the next meal. Daryl was in front, crossbow at the ready for any sign of a rabbit or buck, anything would be good right now, we had been walking for around half an hour and it was getting dark.

"Daryl, we gonna have to call this a day. The lights goin' fast"

"Shhhh! I think I hear something" Daryl whispered, moving forwards body hunched over his crossbow. I silently followed him keeping a distance. Then I heard it too...a russel of leaves and a soft whimper.

"Daryl that don't sound like no animal..." I said grabbing my gun from its holster.

"Shh, we'll follow fur a bit, its getting closer..." Daryl drawled quietly, his pace increasing.

We swiftly moved through the trees, visibility was becoming limited as the sun died behind the thick trees.

Then the noise stopped...

Who ever was making that noise had heard us too...

The noise increased again, the sound of moving leaves increased, what ever it was, it was struggling.

"You think its a walker?" Daryl voiced over his shoulder.

"I don't know, let move closer, if it is we can stop it from getting to close to the farm"

Without me having to convince him, Daryl was making his was slowly and silently towards the sound. Out of the trees a figure became visible. It was a girl, I could tell but the long blonde hair that hung down her small figure. She was leaning against a tree, hissing in...pain.

"Stop" I whispered to Daryl. "It's not a walker, its a girl." I pushed Daryl's cross bow downwards, but he held his arms firm.

"No, could be a trap, we need to get closer."

As we moved a few steps towards a tree that would block us from sight the girl stopped and tried to turn around and stumbled ..there was a clink of metal.

"Looks like she in a bear trap or somethin'" Daryl said putting his crossbow down. "She tryin' to pull her fuckin' leg out of it come on"

We moved forwards out of the shadow of the trees and the girl stopped crying. She placed her head in her hands and spoke hoarsely.

"Just kill me, just kill me Zack."

I looked at Daryl confused and he gave me the same look back, but even before I could open my mouth to talk she slumped sideways and dropped to the ground.

"What in the..." I moved forwards towards her. "She's a mess Daryl" I carefully held her wrist looking for a pulse..."well shes' still alive" taking my hands gently under her head I moved her onto her back.

Her long silvery hair flopped over her shoulder with her limp arms. Her face was covered in dirt and blood, her hair was matted and her hands were torn up and bloody.

"What the fuck happened here" Daryl said as he leant down beside her, gently moving her hair out of her face. "Lone survivor of a walker attack?" He questioned looking her up and down. "Has she been bit"

"No...she mentioned a name, and before that she was scared...she's been running from someone...someone that might have wanted to harm her..."

"We can't drag that sorta trouble back to the camp, we should just leave her er'" Daryl said standing back up, he looked reluctant.

"If Carl found himself in this state and someone found him, I'd want them to help..." I said looking at her closely. Her clothes were skimpy and ripped, she had pj type short on and a ripped plaid shirt and I could see she had nothing between that and her underwear.

"Wherever she was, she left in a hurry, check her bag" I said nodding my head over towards the small brown backpack that lay a few feet away.

"Just some pictures, water and a music player. This must be er' no weapons...no nothin" he said motioning one of the photos towards me.

You could tell the girl just by lookin at he hair, white blonde fallin in messy curl around her, she was with friends probably a party.

"She was normal, just like us. We can't leave her here" I said standing up defiantly.

He stood there, chewin his thumb for a second or two.

"Fine, lets get that trap off her leg first..." he said crouching down to hold her leg. "Shittt, she's bin walkin' round on this for a day or so..." he said inspecting the trap. "It's torn up her sneakers."

He began to prise open the trap, forcing the metal spikes out of her leg. She flinched.

"Stop, stop!" I said holding my hand out to him. She began to stir.

"Fuck it" Daryl said as he pulled the trap off her leg quickly.

The girl bolted upwards and screamed, looking around frantically. Her wild eyes flew between our faces as she tried to back away.

"No no wait!" I said putting up my hand. "It alrigh' we ain't gonna hurt you...please we are gonna help. You got caught in a trap and passed out, we have someone who can help please stay still." I said as she continued to push herself away, her back against a tree.

Violet POV

My eyes opened with a start as pain seared up my leg and through my body. I sat up sharply, the pain and adrenaline forcing me to move away from the danger. As my eyes began to focus, I was faced with two men. One had blackish curly hair and a rough beard covering a slightly weather worn face and the other had dark straight hair covering part of his forehead. His blue eyes pierced mine, his arms were tense and he held what looked like a crossbow at my face. I back away quickly, crawling my hands behind me to move me as my feet were feeling like bricks.

The one with the slicked back curly hair said something. I could see his mouth moving but it sound like I was hearing him from under water. I continued to back away until my back was so tightly up against the tree it scratched at my bare shoulder where my top had slipped off, revealing my black bra strap. I hastily pulled it back up over my shoulder and looked back at the man with the dark long hair. He looked confused, scared even.

The two men looked back and forth at each other their words a buzz in my ears. I shook my head violently and grabbed my hair roughly.

"Please stop please stop please stop!!!" I mumbled as I rocked my head further into my palms, digging my hands into my eyes.

I felt a something on my arm pulling my hand away from my face.

"Stop it ur' gonna hurt yourself" I looked up seeing the man wearing a sleeveless jacket holding my hand away from my face. "We want to help ya" he said, his blue eyes scanning my face and body.

"Jesus what happened here..." the other man said. He was looking at me with pity, I just looked down.

I realised the other one was still holding my arm away from my face, his large hand lessoned its grip and he moved backwards again, sitting down slightly on the damp earth, resting his hand behind him.

"Where did you come from...what...happened" I continued to look down and shiver.

"Alright, my names Rick, Rick Grimes...and this is Daryl Dixon. We are part of a group, at a farm couple miles away...we would like to take ya there, get that leg seen to...can we do that?"

I looked up again, my hair creating a yellow veil in the failing sunlight. Could they be trusted...what if they lead me back to the camp...maybe they worked for Zack...at this point did I even care? I glanced between them both, this Rick guy reminded me of my adoptive father...and Daryl...I didn't know what to think of him, but his touch lingered on my arm, it wasn't to hurt, it was to help.

I nodded slightly and looked them both in the eye, I nodded again.

"What's your name?..."

I hesitated...then I cleared my throat slightly..."Violet, my name is Violet" I said instantly looking down.

"Ok Violet. I'm gonna help ya up now, I'm gonna grab your arm, I need you to grab onto Daryl ok?" Rick said this so gently, lightly, I couldn't help but oblige.

I reached a dirty hand towards Daryl and gripped his hand tightly as Rick lifted my up from my elbow.

"Ow" I whimpered pathetically. And my legs gave out.

Not only was I hurt but I was dehydrated and exhausted from months of neglect. I fell a strong pair of arms wrapped around me and hold me before I hit the ground. I looked up into Daryl's blue eyes and quickly looked away.

"Ya can't walk alone, I'm gonna have to carry ya" a low southern accent drawled.

I didn't protest as strong arms engulfed my body and lifted me as if I was a feather. I felt so light, weightless, for the first time in a long time.

"Right, I've got your bag ok, you just sit tight, it won't take long to get back." Rick sounded from behind us.

"Rick, grab that rag from my back pocket and wrap it round her leg it don't look so good" I didn't even look down to see the damage, I just looked up at the sky, at the orange that appeared to merge with the darkness. Without city lights the sky was so clear.

I felt eyes on me, I looked slightly to the right and saw Daryl looking down at me, I blinked and stared back until we began to move.

We walked for a while before Daryl had to stop for a rest.

"I have, water...water in my bag" I croaked.

Daryl looked down and almost laughed.

"I'm alrigh' Violet, here you have some." I heard the bottle unscrew and he held it to my chapped lips. I drunk it happily, feeling my throat soak up the moisture.

I sighed. "Thank you"

"Ah so that what you sound like" Rick piped up. "Thought you sounded like a 40 year old smoker for a while there"

I nearly laughed as I sat up against the log. I winched again.

"You alrigh' Daryl said next to me sitting up slightly.

"I think I was shot." I lifted my top slightly to see a gash in my side. It had just grazed me...

"You didn't mention that earlier!" Daryl said sitting up looking at it.

"I didn't feel it" I said looking down.

"Where are you from?" Rick said, his face was twisted in confusion. I stayed silent.

"I mean where are you from originally, before...this..." he gestured to the world around us.

"Manchester, England" I said shuffling slightly

"Where are you here?" Daryl questioned.

"School" I said quietly. The both looked taken aback. "I dont mean high school or anything, I'm 24...I finished university 2 years ago, decided to carry on studying, came here for Civil War stuff..." I continued, I already felt like I had said to much.

There was silence... "So you don't know this area at all?" Rick said.

"No." I said tipping my head to the floor, showing I was done talking.

"Let's keep movin" Daryl said moving slowly to lift me up once again.

He carefully weaved his arm behind my legs and around my back. I again felt weightless, lying there in his arms.

"Don't fall asleep alright?" He said looking down at me.

I nodded against his chest moving my arm to lie lazily around his neck, my other hand balling into a fist around part of his jacket. I held myself to him like my life depended on it...this total stranger...

With Rick and Daryl I felt safe for the first time in months, would this last? I didn't know...were they telling the truth...I didn't know. But right here, right now I felt alright, for the first time in a long time...


End file.
